Ready to transport your web applications into the Web 2.0 era? Head First Rails takes your programming -- and productivity -- to the max. You'll learn everything from the fundamentals of Rails scaffolding to building customized interactive web apps using Rails' rich set of tools and the MVC framework.
By the time you're finished, you'll have learned more than just another web framework. You'll master database interactions, integration with Ajax and XML, rich content, and even dynamic graphing of your data -- all in a fraction of the time it takes to build the same apps with Java, PHP, ASP.NET, or Perl. You'll even get comfortable and familiar with Ruby, the language that underpins Rails. But you'll do it in the context of web programming, and not through boring exercises such as "Hello, World!"
Your time is way too valuable to waste struggling with new concepts. Using the latest research in cognitive science and learning theory to craft a multi-sensory learning experience, Head First Rails uses a visually rich format designed to take advantage of the way your brain really works.
David Griffiths began programming at age 12, after being inspired by a documentary on the work of Seymour Papert. At age 15 he wrote an implementation of Papert's computer language LOGO. After studying Pure Mathematics at University, he began writing code for computers and magazine articles for humans and he is currently an agile coach with Exoftware in the UK, helping people to create simpler, more valuable software. He spends his free time traveling and time with his lovely wife, Dawn.
I find this book excellent as an introduction to Rails. In particular, the sequence of the first chapters is very well thought out. I was looking for the smoothest possible path to intermediate Rails "fu", and this is it, definitely.
8/17/2010
(1 of 1 customers found this review helpful)
2.0
Extremely light introduction
By AlleyCat
from Lexington, KY
About Me Developer
Pros
Accurate
Easy to understand
Helpful examples
Cons
Too basic
Best Uses
Novice
Comments about O'Reilly Media Head First Rails:
This book does a good job of doing the basic introductions...and then stops. I usually find Head First books to be of high quality, but this one was just disappointing in that it cover nearly enough. I should have known when I saw that it was much smaller than the books I'm used to getting.